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Excelsior snap 22-year Olivier Shield drought - Head coach Keon Broderick credits balance between sports, academics
January 09, 2026
Reigning Manning Cup champions Excelsior High lifted the ISSA all-island Olivier Shield title for the first time in 22 years, when they defeated reigning daCosta Cup champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) 2-0 at Stadium East.
Goals from Terrence Williams and Kivann Salmon in the 10th and 87th minutes, respectively, were enough to see Excelsior secure schoolboy football supremacy.
The victory was the school's third hold on the Olivier Shield following wins in 2003 and a shared title with Rusea's High in 1993.
It comes just weeks after their Manning Cup triumph at the National Stadium where they defeated Jamaica College (JC) to claim their eighth urban title.
Excelsior's head coach Keon Broderick praised his players for not just their work on the field, but their balancing act as student-athletes.
TREMENDOUS FEELING
"It's a tremendous feeling when you consider the way how we go about putting together this programme at Excelsior High School. It is not just about football for us, it's about the entire student," Broderick praised.
"We asked each and every player in the programme to balance both academics with football and it can be done and Excelsior is a living testament that we can balance sport with the academics, and we can strive while we play football."
Excelsior took the lead early in the contest when talisman Kimarly Scott was brought down in the box and earned his team a penalty.
Team captain Williams stepped up to the plate and calmly slotted the ball to the bottom left corner.
SINK HOPES
Excelsior maintained a one-goal lead for most of the contest, before doubling their advantage with three minutes left in regulation time, sinking STETHS' hopes.
Salmon picked up the ball just outside the box, before waltzing past his defender and letting loose an effort that flew into the bottom right corner.
Broderick explained that despite the loss in fitness over the Christmas break, he was confident his players could pull together for the win.
"We knew coming from the Christmas break, they're not (at) the usual level as it comes to the physical part of the game and I knew that being in front, we were going to suffer a whole lot in the second half.
"But we would have done so much work in the preseason and in the season that we knew that even though we're not at our best, we could have gotten the job done."
STUNNED BY PENALTY
His opposite number, Omar 'Rambo' Wedderburn, felt his team was stunned by the early penalty and could not find their usual flowing style of football.
Despite the defeat, Wedderburn left a proud coach, having won the team its first daCosta Cup title since 2015.
"We had a very good season and I wanted to top it off with the Olivier Shield, but it never went our way. I think the penalty really changed the complexion of the game, but we're never one to complain, never one to argue," said Wedderburn.
"I didn't think we came out with that fighting power of free spirit today, but ... it's one crocodile all the while."
